Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Iran,
1951–1954

1. The Communist Tudeh party is no longer illegal, and can now engage in
overt activity, following an Iranian court ruling of 16 May.

a. Some imprisoned members have already been released.

b. It is not clear whether or not this action was approved or sponsored
by Mossadeq’s government, which,
however, has thus far permitted the decision to stand.

c. A statement by Hossein Fatemi,
the foreign minister, who on Sunday said merely that the last word had
not been spoken in the matter, seemed to evade the issue of what the
government would or would not do.

Source:
Central Intelligence Agency, DDI
Files, Job 80R01443R, Box 1, Folder 19, NSC Briefing 20 May 53. Secret. Prepared for DCIDulles for his briefing of
the NSC on May 20. The official
minutes of the NSC meeting of May
20 record that DCIDulles briefed the National
Security Council on Iran, and included a “reference to the
legalizing of the Tudeh Party in Iran. This development,” Dulles said, “indicated further
deterioration for the interests of the free world in Iran.”
(National Archives, RG 273, Records
of the National Security Council, Official Minutes 1947–1961, Box
27, 145th Meeting)↩